These United States Get Idiotic...

As we approach the 4th of July, what could be more patriotic than good thoughts about These United States?...and here is a truly good thought...It looks like they will be returning to the area! The Village Idiot in Maumee to be exact...on August 20th.

U2's "Claw" Stage Ready for it's Close Up...

As U2 prepares to kick off the 360 Degrees Tour, here is a quick look at the highly anticipated, one of a kind stage.... dubbed The Claw, for obvious reasons.

Video: Wilco Behind the Scenes...

Check out this great video posted by Jeff Tweedy's brother-in-law, Danny Miller, showing some "behind the scenes" moments of Wilco's recent visit west to do a some shows, The Tonight Show & welcome a family member into the world (which is ruled by Wilco). This video was posted on Danny's blog.

R.E.M. EP Due July 7th (Live in Dublin)...

On July 7th, look for R.E.M.'s Reckoning Songs From The Olympia, a 4-song digital ep, available for download at iTunes and other online outlets. The Live release, which comes quickly on the heels of the Reckoning Deluxe Edition (released June 23rd), includes "Harborcoat," "Letter Never Sent," "Second Guessing," and "Pretty Persuasion," from the band's Working Rehearsals at Dublin's Olympia Theatre in July 2007. "Reckoning Songs From The Olympia," will give fans a preview of R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA, a two CD-set scheduled for a Fall release.

"Pick" of the Week?: Questlove Record...

Video: Wilco on Tonight Show...

Jayhawks Anthology Due on July 7th...

MUSIC FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY: THE JAYHAWKS ANTHOLOGY, the first compilation ever released on the Jayhawks is a career-spanning assemblage of 20 signature singles and album tracks – from their 1989 debut album on Minneapolis-based Twin/Tone Records, Blue Earth, through all five of their albums on the American Recordings label: the breakthrough Hollywood Town Hall (1992), Tomorrow The Green Grass (1995), Sound Of Lies (1997), Smile (2000), and Rainy Day Music (2003).

Adding provenance to the collection is an insightful liner notes essay by PD Larson, a Minneapolis-based writer who’s been a fan since witnessing the first-ever Jayhawks concert in 1985. Larson sets the scene by laying out the roots and branches of the Jayhawks influences in folk, rock and country – Bob Dylan, the Hawks (the source of the Jayhawks’ name, the backup group for Ronnie Hawkins and later Dylan, as they became the Band), the Flying Burrito Brothers, “the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, anything involving Gram Parsons, connoisseur-grade country, folk and blues sources.”

The 20-song career overview will be released separately as a single CD on its own, and as the cornerstone of a deluxe three-disc set. The eco-friendly three-panel paper foldout “soft pack” (no plastic jewelcase) will contain an additional CD of Jayhawks rarities – out-of-print tracks, demos, outtakes, alternate versions, single B-sides, live material, and one cut from their indie self-released, self-titled debut album of 1986 on the Bunkhouse label (referred to as The Bunkhouse Album).

Fourteen of the 20 tracks on this rarities CD are previously unreleased. All are extensively annotated by Larson, whose knowledge of the Jayhawks sheds light throughout. Citing “Cure For This,” for example, Larson writes: “This Perlman/Louris composition was at least partially a by-product of the widespread fascination at the time with Nick Cave’s 1997 album, The Boatman Calls… A reworked version of ‘Cure For This’ was released as ‘Goodbye Kiss’ in 2009 on 25:32:47, an EP Perlman recorded with Minneapolis singer Janey Winterbauer. There was a song on Golden Smog’s misunderstood 2006 album Another Fine Day also titled ‘Cure For This’ (sung by Muni Loco, wife of AFD’s Spanish producer Paco Loco), but it’s a completely different song than this Jayhawks demo.”

The third disc in the deluxe package is a DVD highlighted by all seven music video clips produced for the Jayhawks: “Waiting For The Sun,” “Settled Down Like Rain,” “Take Me With You (When You Go),” “Blue,” “I’d Run Away,” “Big Star,” and “Save It For A Rainy Day.” Additional video content for the DVD includes two EPKs (electronic press kits) produced for Hollywood Town Hall in 1992 (20 minutes, with full live versions of “Settled Down Like Rain,” Tim Hardin’s “Reason To Believe,” and “Take Me With You (When You Go),” filmed at the Metro in Chicago on Valentine’s Day, 1993) and for Sound Of Lies in 1997 (seven minutes). All DVD content is being released commercially for the first time.

Jagjaguwar Introduces VOLCANO CHOIR...

Unmap marks the debut full-length from Volcano Choir, the collaboration between Collections of Colonies of Bees and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Jagjaguwar will release the first project by Volcano Choir, Unmap, on September 22nd (21st in the UK), worldwide.

Volcano Choir is an assembly of Wisconsinites Jon Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack, Justin Vernon, and Thomas Wincek. You might find these old friends also frequenting records and stages under different monikers, Collections of Colonies of Bees and Bon Iver. The collaboration predates the meteoric rise of Justin

Vernon's Bon Iver project, with original songwriting dating back to the summer of 2005, right around the time the Bees first toured with Vernon's previous band DeYarmond Edison.

While entirely a studio record, the collection doesn't suffer from the overburdens of a digital pile up or over-thinking. Rather it breathes and convulses in equal measure, radiating an inherent dynamism found only in the voluntary bondage of intimacy. With influences ranging from David Sylvian and Steve Reich to Mahalia Jackson and Tom Waits, it might be more accurate to say the group's influence is music itself. You can hear it in the care and real love generously applied to each moment of Unmap. With the vibe of some intimate backwoods gospel, plus a spirit of patience and thoughtful repetition, the music of Volcano Choir is as dynamic as it is lovely.

Unmap ultimately came together over a weekend in November 2008 in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, at Justin and Nate Vernon's recording studio. And while it is at its heart a record about the allure of being with people you need and making something with them, it is also a document created by musicians with rare gifts getting together to exorcise their ideas about beauty. This scaffolding of loops and off grid tempos for choral style vocals offers a state of continual surprise, call it unexpectation.

Video: Wilco & Feist ~ You and I...

Beck Is Back With His Record Club...

Record Club 'Waiting for My Man'

Here is the second song of our look into The Velvet Underground & Nico, in which everyone untunes their instruments and Nigel thrashes a dx-7, coaxing sounds hitherto unheard from this 80's Whitney Houston power ballad beast.

Bek

Yim Yames (MMJ) Plans G. Harrison Tribute...

The latest from Jim James (Yim Yames):
Hello friends. Just like most everyone else under this crazy dome, I have been a fan of the Beatles since early childhood... But it wasn't 'till sometime in '99 that an old pal turned me on to "All Things Must Pass" and I quickly became even more enamored with the quiet beauty and majesty of all things George Harrison. He always seemed to be a beacon of good light unto the world, accomplishing the rare task of using his massive fortune and fame to promote peace - both within and around the World. I will always look up to and see him as a prime example of the healing power of music and how, in tune with it, all is possible.

The following are a selection of George's songs I recorded back in 2001, a few days after he passed that were moving me so very much at the time... I recorded them live at above the Cadillac in Shelbyville, KY... On my cousin John's "ol faithful" Fostex 8 track reel2reel, then overdubbed a banjitar or b. vox here or there. I find comfort knowing that all things must pass, but that as all things do pass their spirits are still out there moving us somewhere... doing what they do, just as real as they ever were in this physical world... I hear them singing and I feel them in my blood.

Thanks George for helping me to understand things just a lil bit better...

- yim yames (jim james from my morning jacket)

Beginning today, you can listen to and download "Behind That Locked Door" from yimyames.com. And starting on July 7th, you'll be able to buy the EP directly from the website, and download it immediately. We'll also give you the opportunity to purchase the CD, and a limited edition vinyl of Tribute To. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary and with your purchase of the Limited Edition Vinyl & CD, you'll also receive a t-shirt from the organization... your reminder that your money went to a good and worthy cause.

Avett Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert Video...

R.I.P. Michael Jackson...

My very first album was The Jackson 5, ABC.
The Performer of the Century.

Beastie Boys Chicago Info. & Album Details...

My inbox was looked a little sweeter as a result of this e-mail from Beastie Boys:

Ladies and Gentleman,

We, the band collectively known as Beastie Boys, are contacting you, in regards to our 5 point plan:

1. The reissue of "Ill Communication" is imminent.
2. A reissue of "Hello Nasty" is released on the 25th of August.
3. A club show occurs in Chicago on the 6th of August.
4. The new Beastie Boys feature length LP entitled "HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PART 1" is unleashed on the 15th of September. (See below for track listing*)
5. The music industry is saved.

I removed the pre-sale info (e-mail me if you want that info. on the DL).

Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, June 26th at 10am Chicago time via http://www.frontgatetickets.com OR with a reduced service charge in-person at Site and Sound (2125 N. Milwaukee Ave.)

Ages 17+

*Tracklisting

1. Tadlock's Glasses
2. B-Boys In The Cut
3. Make Some Noise
4. Nonstop Disco Powerpack
5. OK
6. Too Many Rappers (featuring NAS)
7. Say It
8. The Bill Harper Collection
9. Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (featuring Santigold)
10. Long Burn The Fire
11. Bundt Cake
12. Funky Donkey
13. Lee Majors Come Again
14. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament
15. Pop Your Balloon
16. Crazy Ass Shit
17. Here's A Little Something For Ya

Modest Mouse Sets Columbus Tour Date...

No more "cat & mouse" games while you try to catch a Modest show. Modest Mouse will be on a brief tour that makes it's way through Columbus, Ohio on August 24th @ LC Pavilion.

Here is some new music from MM:

The Breeders to Play Crofoot in Pontiac...

The Breeders are back with some new tour dates & an EP, Fate To Fatal. They will be at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac, Michigan on August 14th. Here is an interesting video of them screenprinting their latest EP in Oxford, Ohio.

Click here to download a FREE track, Fate To Fatal.



Fate to Fatal

'It Might Get Loud' Trailer...

It Might Get Loud isn’t like any other rock’n roll documentary. Filmed through the eyes of three virtuosos from three different generations, audiences get up close and personal, discovering how a furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a studio musician and painter from London and a seventeen–year–old Dublin schoolboy, each used the electric guitar to develop their unique sound and rise to the pantheon of superstar. Rare discussions are provoked as we travel with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White to influential locations of their pasts. Born from the experience is intimate access to the creative genesis of each legend, such as Link Wray’s “Rumble’s” searing impression upon Jimmy Page, who surprises audiences with an impromptu air guitar performance. But that’s only the beginning.

While each guitarist describes his own musical rebellion, a rock’n roll summit is being arranged. Set on an empty soundstage, the musicians come together, crank up the amps and play. They also share their influences, swap stories, and teach each other songs. During the summit Page’s double–neck guitar, The Edge’s array of effects pedals and White’s new mic, custom built into his guitar, go live. The musical journey is joined by visual grandeur too. We see the stone halls of Headley Grange where “Stairway to Heaven” was composed, visit a haunting Tennessee farmhouse where Jack White writes a song on–camera, and eavesdrop inside the dimly lit Dublin studio where The Edge lays down initial guitar tracks for U2’s forthcoming single. The images, like the stories, will linger in the mind long after the reverb fades.

Beck Starts a Record Club on His Site...

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Sunday Morning' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

From Beck's Website:

Record Club

We've been working on changes to the website for the last few months. We'll be adding new sections as they're ready. The first one to be added is called Record Club, an informal meeting of various people to record an album in a day. An album will be chosen to be reinterpreted and used as a framework. Nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track will be uploaded once a week on beck.com as well as through the web sites of those involved with the project.

For this first edition, after lengthy deliberation and coming close to covering Digital Underground's Sex Packets, all present voted in favor of the 'other' Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico. Participants included this time around are Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian Lebarton, Bram Inscore, Yo, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes, and from Iceland, special guest Thorunn Magnusdottir, and myself. Thanks to everyone who helped put this together, and to all of you for indulging in this experiment. More soon.

Bek

De La Soul to Play Comerica Cityfest for Free...

De La Soul has set out on a tour to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their ground-breaking album 3 Feet High & Rising. If you live in the Detroit area, you can catch them for FREE as they are scheduled to participate in Comerica Cityfest2009 on July 1st at 9 pm.

Flaming Lips Confirm Album, EP & Tour Dates...

Here is a new message sent out today from Flaming Lips:
Hey Campers!

We're happy to announce that we'll be releasing a new double-album entitled "EMBRYONIC" later this year.

We've just confirmed our Summer tour dates and decided to reward our long-time loyal fans by offering a special ticket bundle available for sale online - the bundle will come with a ticket to see the band live along with an exclusive online digital EP that will contain 3 songs from the upcoming record - "Convinced of The Hex," "The Impulse," and "Silver Trembling Hands" plus three additional rare b-side tracks that we've selected.

In addition to the EP, the bundle includes a digital download bootleg of the same show that you attend, which will be available after the show.

Money Mark Posts YouTube Videos...

Beastie Boys keyboardist, Money Mark has taken a liking to posting some backstage BB videos on YouTube...ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out.

Rock Hall Celebrates Woodstock's 40th...

From the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website:
The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, which was held 40 years ago in Bethel, New York, was the embodiment of the peace and hippie movement and provided a triumphant exclamation point for the 1960s. Yes, there were crippling traffic jams and plenty of drugs, nudity, rain and mud. But there was also the music – three days of iconic performances from an unprecedented array of artists, including the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, the Band, Santana, Arlo Guthrie, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Winter, Sly and the Family Stone, Joan Baez, Richie Havens and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. This exhibit tells the story of the festival, utilizing a vast array of artifacts from Woodstock executive producer Michael Lang and many of the artists who appeared at the festival. Highlights include the original stage plans, clothing worn by John Sebastian and Stephen Stills, posters, contracts and other key documents. Woodstock 94, the 25th anniversary concert, makes an appearance, too – demonstrating the lasting legacy of the most important music festival ever staged.

This exhibit will be located in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ahmet M. Ertegun Main Exhibit Hall and will open to the public on Friday, July 3 until November 29, 2009.

Avett Brothers To Play Michigan Theater...

From The Ark newsletter:
North Carolina's Avett Brothers love and are immersed in the traditions of country and bluegrass, yet they attack their instruments with rock intensity. Recently signed to producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings label (home to Tom Petty and to Johnny Cash in his last years), the Avett Brothers have recently completed a fabulous new album, I and Love and You, with the legendary Rubin himself at the controls. The Avett Brothers are an incredbile live band that has played The Ark twice, and we're proud to welcome them to the Michigan Theater on Monday, October 26, as they move on to bigger things.

Tickets will go on sale for The Avett Brothers on Saturday, June 27 through the Michigan Union Ticket Office and Ticketmaster.

Video: Bjork ~ Declare Independence...

Shock Therapy...

If you love the sound of a pure voice, then take pleasure in knowing that Michelle Shocked is scheduled to play The Ark in Ann Arbor on Sunday, September 20th. This tour supports her latest album, Soul of My Soul, which dropped late last month.





About Michelle (as written on her Myspace Page):
Shocked has likewise transcended class bias, while retaining the parts that make sense, in a 23-year career that has seen critical acclaim at every juncture. In the early 1990s, she famously escaped major-label indentured servitude, subverting the artist-label relationship that helped lead to the current trend toward artistic self-containment. She has made good use of her independence, releasing more critically-acclaimed albums on her Mighty Sound label. Her lucky thirteenth album, Soul of My Soul, is the latest of these.

Two intense, seemingly divergent, emotions — love and anger —dovetail on Soul, a passionate album in every sense. “I think the meditation these past several years, ever since I stopped drinking, really, has been to jettison rage,” says Shocked, “without losing the ability to feel strong feelings.” Two “strong currents” in her present life conspired to teach her that lesson. Artist David Willardson, “the Official Love of My Life,” is one such tide, and Shocked raves about his warm and nurturing nature. On the flipside is her “nemesis,” the Bush Administration “and their alleged enlightened self-interest. Between the two of them, my emotions have run quite high in recent years.”

The sentiments on Soul of My Soul are couched mainly in straight-four, no frills, rock ‘n’ roll — just the context for Shocked’s two-pronged passion play. Among the songs about her new love is the acoustic ballad “True Story,” where Shocked sings directly to Willardson. “The producer [Devin Powers] said he wasn't getting enough emotion from the vocal performance,” says Shocked. “I knew exactly what to do.” Pouring her heart out over the phone, she nailed “one perfect, passionate take” that culminates in a deluge of happy tears. Willardson also inspired the ebullient, Stones-y anthem “Love’s Song,” a spacey Kate Bush-meets-U2 meditation on the couple’s future called “Heart to Heart,” and the lusty “Paperboy,” a snapshot from Willardson’s youth (when he lost his job for neglecting his duties to chase a girl).

Video: Mos Def on Letterman...